


the only place

by skyrockets



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Canon Compliant, Fluff, High School, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-28
Packaged: 2019-02-05 01:58:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12784479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyrockets/pseuds/skyrockets
Summary: "if you need, come build your home in me. you know i won't complain."The only place Will Byers really feels at home, is by Mike Wheeler's side.(a collection of unrelated byeler prompt fills. originally posted on tumblr. tags will be updated with every chapter.chapter two: mike asks will out to a dance. on accident.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i thought it would be easier to clean up my tumblr drabbles and post them in one place. i've been obsessed with byeler ever since i finished season 2 and i have written... far too much already.
> 
> prompt #1: "What abt that scene when Will has an episode in the arcade in ep1 s2, in Mike's pov, he panics when he sees his boyf is not there and looks for him and his relief when he finds him. So cute. Pls"

Mike laughs under his breath as Dustin and Lucas continue to squabble over the supposed identity of the mysterious Mad Max with Keith. He’s gonna remember Dustin’s outraged expression at losing his Dig Dug titled for a long time.

Looking at their faces, illuminated from the lights of Dig Dug, Mike is… content. It’s hard to be truly happy when he’s been worried about Eleven for the past three hundred and fifty-two days - is she doing okay? Does she know she can come home? Is she even ali - Mike cuts that train of thought short with a clenched fist. Not today. Not while he’s out with the party.

Besides, Eleven isn’t the only one he’s worried about. Will had come back from the Upside Down in one piece but he was… different. Quieter. Sadder. His smiles dimmed in comparison to the ones from before and he didn’t laugh as often as he used to. It breaks Mike’s heart. He wants to do anything he could to help Will feel okay again, but Will _never talked to him._. Whenever he asked Will how he was doing he always got a shrug and a mutter of “okay I guess” in reply. And yeah, maybe he was mother hen-ing will too much but it was so frustrating. Frustrating how everyone tried to pretend everything was normal when Mike knew it was anything but that.

Still, Mike must make do with what he has. Because the last thing he wants is an upset Will. He would really hate himself then.

He looks to his side, about to ask Will if he wanted to ditch Lucas and Dustin and face off on Pac-Man together or something but stops short. Will isn’t there. He looks over to the Dig Dug machine, then turned to look at the other side of the arcade. “Will?” Mike calls worriedly, walking away from the other two to look for his friend. Was he in the bathroom? Shit, Mike shouldn’t have kept his eyes off him. 

Five minutes pass and panic starts to swell up in his chest when he finds that Will isn’t in the bathroom, or anywhere else in the arcade. It’s not that big and he’s checked every corner, even in the employee only room. Mike knows that lately Will has been spacing out more when the party got together, getting lost in his own thoughts, not paying attention to his surroundings, but he never just up and _left._

The worst case scenarios start to run through Mike’s mind. If Will was lost again.., Mike couldn’t even begin to imagine what he would do if it happened again. Just thinking about it is making his stomach sick. Swearing under his breath, he walks through the doors, hoping to find Will outside.

And there he was, back to Mike, staring up into the sky. Relief floods his body so readily, he almost stumbles in his hurry to reach his friend. “Will!” Will spins around with a gasp, eyes wild with panic, a look of pure terror on his face. Mike freezes, the worry starting back in him all over again. “Are you okay?”

Will swallows. Mike waits with bated breath. He doesn’t know exactly what Will was going through but he needs him to know that he’d always be here for him. If Will ever wanted to talk, Mike would be here. He might not understand but he would _be there._ No matter what.

“Yeah I just…” Will trails off, looking back up to the sky with an anxious expression. “I just needed some air.”

Mike wilts a little - clearly Will wasn’t okay, clearly he didn’t just “need air” - but he chooses to brush it aside. Now’s not the time to make a fuss. If this is what Will wanted, welll, that was fine too. Mike could work with this. “Come on. You’re up on Dig Dug,” he says cheerfully, wrapping his arm around Will’s shoulder. Will has always been shorter than Mike but right now, pressed up against his side, with his hand on his back, it’s so much more apparent how small and fragile he is. Mike can feel the bones of his shoulder blades sticking out. It makes his throat tighten.

Mike is honestly stunned- sometimes he can hardly believe little Will Byers had survived the Upside Down for a week, survived the _Demogorgon._ He knows, better than anyone, that Will is so much stronger than he looks, but Mike doesn’t want him to go through any more pain. Not alone.

A fierce surge of protectiveness suddenly burns in him. He will never let _anything_ happen to Will Byers ever again. Not if he could help it. No bullies, no stupid otherworldly monsters, nothing. Paladins defend, and he’d protect his cleric with everything he had.

Mike squeezes Will tight, bringing him in closer. He feels better with Will beside him like this. “Let’s take that top score back, huh?”

Will doesn’t say anything, but let his hand came up to brush against Mike’s back. For some unfathomable reason, Mike shivers at the gentle touch. Will blinks at him as they walk back into the arcade. “Are you cold, Mike?” he asks with concern.

He blinks. Shakes off the strange fluttering in his stomach before smiling at Will crookedly. “Nah Byers. You’re here to keep me warm, right?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt #2: "what's that?" "...uh. a flower" 
> 
> mike inadvertently asks will to the school dance and reveals a hell of a lot more than he planned to. this was originally from a tumblr writing meme that became way too long. i've cleaned it up from its original posting!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love when mike wheeler is in a gay panic. what a bisexual disaster of a person.

“Tell me again why we’re spending our precious afternoon at school instead of the arcade?” Mike grumbles as he cuts out yet another yellow butterfly. Will is next to him, folding tissue paper into pretty, pastel flowers. It’s hard for Mike to keep his eyes on his own work. Will’s fingers are slender and _pretty_ \- which is fucking weird, who finds hands pretty? - so watching them work is a treat in itself.

Luckily there’s a loudmouth here who helps him from making gaga eyes at Will for too long. “Because your ex girlfriend thought it would be a great idea if we all decorated for the school dance,” Dustin snaps at him like it’s his fault El wants to be involved in school stuff now. Last time he heard, she said something about being a cheerleader. Mike had a terrible vision of El knocking down the opposing team’s football players on the field and getting blood on her cheerleader uniform. He still had to find a way to talk her out of it.

“Aw it’s not so bad,” Will says without looking up. He finishes his flower with a satisfied smile. “Besides El missed the first two years of high school. She’s allowed to be excited for the spring fling.”

“If she’s so excited then why doesn’t she cut these with her mi - son of a bitch!” Dustin yelps. “I got a stinking papercut!”

Mike rolls his eyes. “Baby.” Dustin flips him off as he leaves their table, muttering about getting a band aid. For a moment, Mike is glad to have the peace and quiet.

Then he remembers he’s all alone with Will.

“Uh.” His voice squeaks. Will looks up at him curiously. “Do you… do you need help with the flowers?”

Will’s giving him a confused half smile. “Sure but… it’s kind of complicated, want me to teach you the steps?” Mike nods as Will scoots closer to him and starts to explain but Mike isn’t paying attention. He’s focusing on the way Will’s eyelashes flutter, the petal pink of his lips, the delicate slope of his neck.

Holy shit, he is so screwed.

“Mike? Did you get all that?”

 _No, not a single word,_ Mike thinks dazedly but just nods at him, grabbing blue tissue paper and attempting to copy Will’s quick movements. Flowers can’t be that hard. Holly can do this and she’s not even ten. 

Five minutes later and Mike stares in dismay at the abomination in his hand. This… was definitely not a flower. Maybe a twsited one from the Fifth Dimension that shot out poison seeds but not meant to decorate the school gym. And it looked _nothing_ like Will’s. Before he can think of tossing it aside before Will can see, Will’s turned to him, opening his mouth to say something. His eyes drop to the thing in Mike’s hands and he goes silent.

Mike sweats.

“Mike.”

“Hm.”

“What… is that?”

Mike tries for a weak laugh. “Uh… a flower?”

Will scrunches his nose in such a cute way Mike feels several of his brain cells combust at once, unable to deal with the adorableness that is Will Byers. He’s too dazed to listen to what Will’s saying but he manages to catch a “…what are you doing…” and immediately thrusts the flower in Will’s face.

“It’s for you!” he blurts out, and immediately wants to die in the next second. He was gonna miss those brain cells. He definitely still needed them.

Will only takes a few seconds to lower Mike’s mess of a flower from his face but to Mike, they’re the longest seconds possible. He has a weird expression on his face. “For me?”

“Uh.” Clearly Mike’s half-brain was on autopilot because he suddenly can’t stop talking. “I know it’s weird but do you want to go to the spring fling together? Like. Not as friends.”

Will’s eyes widen. Mike’s widen right back.

 _Shit. Shit! Shit!!_ Mike stares at Will’s unnervingly blank face, slowly starting to freak out. _Abort, Wheeler! Mission failure! I repeat, ABORT!!_ a voice screams in Mike’s head but he’s too frozen to move. They stare at each other for a long time, neither of them saying anything. Mike is slowly losing a year of his life from the sheer panic sinking in his body. This is how it ends. He loses his best friend slash crush forever and the rest of the party hate him because Will is the beloved one between the two of them and he has to leave Indiana for Minnesota or some shit and learn how to live life without Will. Grow a beard, maybe raise some cows - 

“What the hell are you two doing?” Dustin is poking his head into the classroom, staring at them strangely, his index finger covered in a bright blue band aid. Mike jumps out of his seat.

“M-Minnesota!” he shouts in a panic before running out of the classroom. This seems to jolt Will back to life, and soon he’s running right after him.

“Mike wait!”

“Minnesota?" Dustin goes from confused to indignant in a second. "What the hell - hey Wheeler get back here I’m not cutting all the fucking butterflies by myself!”

Unfortunately for Mike, he's still growing and doesn’t have proper control of his limbs just yet so Will manages to catch up with him out in the field. “Mike! Slow down! _Michael!_ ” Will shouts, tugging hard on his jacket sleeve. This takes Mike by surprise and he yelps as he falls backwards - directly onto Will.

They tumble onto the ground at the impact and end up in a tangled pile, Mike’s awkwardly long limbs pinning Will down. Mike wants to die when he realizes how close they are. He can see every single one of Will’s delicate eyelashes. He wants to count them, or something. He can see the pretty hazel-green of Will’s eyes - Mike loves how they change color in the light.

Will’s lips quirk. “You do?”

Mike feels a chill at the back of his neck. “Please tell me I didn’t say any of that out loud.”

“Hate to be the bearer of bad news,” Will teases. Mike lets out a dramatic groan and flops his head on Will’s chest, forgetting for the moment about his panic at their proximity. He feels Will’s hand in his curls, gently stroking his head. “Were you serious?” The teasing is gone from Will’s voice, just a solemn quiet now. “About the dance.”

Mike contemplates the merits in lying. He could salvage their friendship and walk away with _some_ of his dignity intact. But then El’s voice rings in his head “friends don’t lie” and he groans. “Yes,” he whispers miserably into Will’s chest.

Will is quiet, too quiet, and Mike forces himself to lift his head. He’s horrified when he sees the pained expression on Will’s face. “Oh my god, Will I’m so sorry!” Mike babbles. “It - It doesn’t matter that I like you okay? We don’t have to go to the stupid dance - I’ll do whatever you want - “

“No stupid,” Will wheezes out. “You’re crushing my ribs.”

“Oh.”

Mike scrambles to his feet, pulling Will up with him. Will takes a deep breath then looks at Mike with a slow smile. “You like me?”

“Ah, fuck,” is all Mike can say in reply. He’s frozen. This is it. The end of his life. Will laughing at him while he mentally checks out to Minnesota - wait why the hell is Will laughing? “...Will?”

“You can pick me up at six, you giant dork.”

Mike blinks furiously. _What?_ His poor brain overworks itself and he’s pretty sure he hears it shut off. Like, physically shut off. Wheeler brain broken, time to pick up a new one. 

Then, Will turns around to head back into the school, saying how he has nearly a hundred more flowers to make. “Wait, what?!” Mike finally shouts after him when Will’s a good distance away. Will turns back and even from far away, Mike can see how brilliant his smile is.

His heart beats like a drum. Will said yes. Will said _yes._

“Ah, fuck,” he mutters under his breath, completely and utterly giddy.

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to leave a request on my [tumblr!](http://biwheelers.tumblr.com) or just come say hi and cry about byeler with me


End file.
